Monday, March 19, 2018

Paris Wanderings Day Six / aka my "Winter Walk-Off"

His rules are simple, although I fear I may be taking liberties with them: "On your own two feet, leave the house, and share what can be seen within walking (or biking) distance of your home (if you want to drive to your walk destination that's OK too). Your post does not have to be about gardening or a travelogue (though I do like both), unless you want it to be. Maybe instead you will find some unusual patterns, interesting shadows, signs of spring, a favorite restaurant or shop, questionable landscaping, or local eyesores. Whatever, just keep your eyes and mind open, be creative, and have fun, but don't show anything from your own garden." He says walking, biking and driving to your destination are okay. I wonder how he feels about taking a taxi, two airplanes, another taxi and then the Metro? Well I guess he'll let me know if he disapproves. In the mean time I give you the wanderings of my sixth day in Paris, on January 22nd.

This is the ornamental wall as you climb up, up, up, up and UP out of the Metro station in Montmartre, nearest Sacré-Cœur.

And after that, there is even more climbing.

With interesting things to look at. This woven bit of artwork was solid, I have no idea what it was made of.

A wall painting...

Loquat! (aka Eriobotrya japonica)

And even a small pond (all of these are just to the right, or left, of the long staircase shown in the second image)...

And the view would have been even more expansive, without the clouds. C'est la vie!

Although I still found interesting things to observe...

We walked on, without going inside. My friend Julie had been in before, and I toured plenty of churches in Italy. I've no need to stand in line to see another. Besides, I found the surrounding buildings so much more interesting.

And when the rain came pouring down, again, we stopped for a glass of vin. My friend Julie...

And me (she was out on the sidewalk edge, I was sitting under the heat-lamps!)...

And then we soldiered on. This watertower and it's surrounding green-space pays tribute to the urban architect and musician Claude Charpentier.

We both were happy to just walk the streets and stare at the buildings.

Yes there was a ceramic shop here, with lots of wonderful things that I had no way to get home.

I peered into every planted area that I saw.

Small...

Or large...

That's some crazy tree pruning.

And some crazy security fencing.

One of my favorite images of this walk.

Old meet new. New apologize to old.

And then we ended up here. And the surroundings got a little dicey. We were looking for a place for lunch and went down a few questionable side streets. Still we felt safe, after all it was daytime and there were two of us. It's also worth noting that all of Paris felt very safe. I would not have hesitated to wander the city alone (but thankfully didn't need to).

The last photo from Montmarte before we hopped back on the subway and headed towards home base (the Latin quarter)...

Stopping just short of "home" to do a little more exploring.

At the Terrain d'Aventures: "A unique and educational place, open 7 days a week, in the heart of Paris. The team of the sculptor Henri Marquet imagined a universe "halfway between the Wizard of Oz and Mario Bros", with innovative games. Here, freedom to play! The Adventure Park is open only to children, supervised by animators. It is organized as a course with micro-landscapes with varied reliefs. It leaves a large place to the greenery. Specially designed for the pleasure and fulfillment of children aged 7 to 11 , it promotes the development of their imagination and their physical abilities as well as their socialization." (source) Of course it wasn't actually open when we were there...unfortunately.

An under-development part of Terrain d'Aventures...

Plant bondage!

We then decided to walk over to the Louvre. While I had no need to go inside (a rabbit hole I simply did not have time for), I did want to see the famous I.M. Pei glass pyramid. In route we passed the Duluc Detective "The sign and doorway may look like part of a movie set, but they belong to one of the last — and oldest — private detective agencies in France."

The backside of the Louvre.

And the courtyard.

And then we passed through an opening and were here...

Another wonderful day walking the streets of Paris (in the winter) had come to a close...

25 comments:

Have to say that Pyramid at night is quite a vision. All those steps explain why French women don't get fat. That must have been quite the workout. I find it fascinating to see how small "alleys" and spaces between buildings are handled in different cities. Even at the edges of those steps amazing to see there were plantings.

"Old meet new. New apologize to old." totally made me crack up! I love this extensive tour of Paris you've been giving us. I've never been anywhere in Europe so it's really a treat for me to see all this stuff!

You made great use of your time in Paris, managing to cover things I never saw (probably because we spent too much time down the afore-mentioned rabbit hole). The photos of the glass pyramid are magnifique!

What fun. I am worn out just seeing a few of the scenes you have shared with us. I loved seeing the Louvre at night. It is spectacular. I have only seen it during the day. When I was in Paris we went to a show at the Moulin Rouge. It was fun. I felt like we had stepped back in time in some respects.

Thank you so much, Loree, for joining in my Walk-Off, especially for walking in Paris. I admire architecture as much as I admire gardens, so this was enjoyable. I am particularly fond of sacred architecture (not so much religion), so I am sorry you didn't wait in line for Sacré-Cœur. However, I understand yet-another-old-church-fatigue.

Thanks for the virtual dampness, not just the walk-off in a place I've never been. Those steps, the tree pollarding... The few trips south we made when I was a kid in Belgium, all went around Paris and as fast as possible to Spain, Rome, and Sicily!